J.Safra Asset Management Corp Buys New Position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. $DRI

J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,227 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,161,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,790,128,000 after purchasing an additional 322,079 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,063,355 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,587,939,000 after buying an additional 43,965 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,077,567 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,486,434,000 after buying an additional 3,613,781 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,189,868 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $771,020,000 after buying an additional 68,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Darden Restaurants by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,212,283 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $629,736,000 after buying an additional 991,230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

Shares of DRI opened at $225.31 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $206.65 and a 200-day moving average of $203.68. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $229.76. The company has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The restaurant operator reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 57.44%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.98 EPS. Darden Restaurants has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.43%.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In other Darden Restaurants news, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.89, for a total value of $90,766.27. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,536 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,271.04. This represents a 7.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 2,226 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.17, for a total value of $463,386.42. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,028.05. The trade was a 34.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 70,185 shares of company stock valued at $14,636,984. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DRI. Argus raised their price objective on Darden Restaurants from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Evercore lowered Darden Restaurants from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Darden Restaurants in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on Darden Restaurants from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Darden Restaurants has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.88.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc is a multi-brand, full-service restaurant company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company owns and operates a portfolio of casual and fine-dining concepts that together serve millions of guests through company-owned and franchised locations. Its well-known brands include Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, alongside other dining concepts that span Italian, American, steakhouse and upscale casual formats.

Darden’s restaurants provide a range of guest-facing services including dine-in, takeout, delivery and catering, and feature menus tailored to each brand’s positioning—Italian-American fare at Olive Garden, steaks and grilled items at LongHorn, and more premium steakhouse and chef-driven offerings at its upscale concepts.